What is YOUR weekly grocery budget?

[mrspopeye]

Obviously, there will be a wide variety of answers, but I'm curious what other people's grocery budget is per week.

We are a family of four, DH, me, DD15 and DD11 and one cat. I always hit Wal Mart once a week for everything: groceries, cleaning supplies, health and beauty aids, school stuff, and I try to keep in between $175-200 a week. My friend that has 3 teenage boys spends three times that!!

I am a firm believer in a list. I hate going and wondering if I need soup, thinking I better buy it just in case, always to find I had 6 cans in the pantry. I made a little Word table document with 16 columns, each corresponding to the aisle at my local Wal Mart, then I filled in the most common items I buy in the order the appear in the aisle. I print once a week, circle what I need, then mark off as I move along. Most important money saver: leave DH and kids AT HOME.

Any other ideas to trim that budget would be appreciated !!

 

[Liberty Belle]

Obviously, there will be a wide variety of answers, but I'm curious what other people's grocery budget is per week.

We are a family of four, DH, me, DD15 and DD11 and one cat. I always hit Wal Mart once a week for everything: groceries, cleaning supplies, health and beauty aids, school stuff, and I try to keep in between $175-200 a week. My friend that has 3 teenage boys spends three times that!!

I am a firm believer in a list. I hate going and wondering if I need soup, thinking I better buy it just in case, always to find I had 6 cans in the pantry. I made a little Word table document with 16 columns, each corresponding to the aisle at my local Wal Mart, then I filled in the most common items I buy in the order the appear in the aisle. I print once a week, circle what I need, then mark off as I move along. Most important money saver: leave DH and kids AT HOME.

Any other ideas to trim that budget would be appreciated !!

There are four of us, including one teenaged boy, and we spend anywhere from $80 to $130 a week. I have kept it under $70 some weeks. I don't use coupons, unless I have one handy, but I do plan my menus by what is on sale that week.

 

[java]

6 of us- 2 teens and 7 and 5 year old 3 boys 1 girl.

Our food/toiletries have been cut down to $100-$125 a week. When I started paying attention to what was on sale, using coupons, and planning meals based on what was on sale vs. what I thought I wanted to make. We also eat meatless at least once a week. I am going to try out a couple $5 dinner meals to mix up what we are eating

http://www.5dollardinners.com/recipes/recipe-index
I have also started making much more- like our bread, muffins, sauces ect.

 

[shortkathleen]

We have 2 kids, 7 and 9. I spend around $150 for food and all household goods. Sometimes it is more if I find a good sale and stock up or if we are out of everything and I have to make a major Sams run.

 

[hsembrick]

Obviously, there will be a wide variety of answers, but I'm curious what other people's grocery budget is per week.

We are a family of four, DH, me, DD15 and DD11 and one cat. I always hit Wal Mart once a week for everything: groceries, cleaning supplies, health and beauty aids,
school stuff, and I try to keep in
between $175-200 a week. My
friend that has 3 teenage boys
spends three times that!!

I am a firm believer in a list. I hate
going and wondering if I need
soup, thinking I better buy it just in
case, always to find I had 6 cans
in the pantry. I made a little Word
table document with 16 columns,
each corresponding to the aisle at
my local Wal Mart, then I filled in
the most common items I buy in
the order the appear in the aisle. I
print once a week, circle what I
need, then mark off as I move
along. Most important money
saver: leave DH and kids AT
HOME.

Any other ideas to trim that budget would be appreciated !!

HOLY MOLY!!! We are a family of 5; me, DH, DS9, DD8, DD4 and we only spend around $100 a week and that's with me packing lunches almost everyday during the school. I buy staples (TP, Paper towels and such) at Sam's and might spend $150 there every 2 months.
I will say that my bill doesn't include beef or pork because we buy a steer and pigs, feed them out and have the meat processed. But even when I was buying meat it was less than $150 a week.

I would suggest shopping and planning your menu for the week buy what is on sale and if it's something you use a lot of or can freeze then buy 2 more than what you need.

 

[dislvr74]

DH and I agreed to a $150/week budget for groceries and household items for our family of four (kids are under 10 and not big eaters). But, we also agreed that if I spend less than that the difference goes into my Disney fund. Thus, I'm pretty motivated to spend as little as possible. I started using coupons and matching them to sales. I also started planning my meals according to what is on sale. The first week I saved $60 and the second week I saved $50. Looks like I'll be at about $100/week until I get a better stockpile built up. I'm hoping to cut that down to $80/week.

 

[java]

Forgot to add that I have a garden- so I get lots of veggies now and can stockpile sauce for the winter.

My boot camp way to jump start a budget shopping trip is to set a limit bring a calculator and when you are $10 away from your budget you stop shopping. You will be amazed at what you can make into a meal out of the pantry.

I found that my kids were thrilled with pancakes for dinner - it's a once in a while treat for them and a budget saver for me.

 

[mward73]

We're a family of 4 (kids are almost 4 and 1 - the 1 yr old eats more than anyone!). I have to pack lunches for both kids as well as snacks for the 1 yr old daily. I also try to pack our lunches at least 3-4 days a week (mostly leftovers). I spent $150 yesterday, but that will last us for 2 weeks. I tend to shop every 2 weeks, sometimes we're a little more and sometimes a little less, but it's roughly the same. I shop things on sale, use coupons, try to match sales w/coupons, etc.

 

[fakereadhed]

Ours is $80/wk for groceries for family of 5- 2 adults, 2 teen girls, and a 6 yo boy. I buy meat at Costco and divide it into portions for 5 and freeze it. We have 2 stores 20min away that double up to $1 coupons. I stockpile deodorant, shampoo, razors, toothpaste if they are .50-.75 after coupons. Same with feminine products and paper goods and cleaning supplies. If it's free or under .75 after coupons, the grocery items will be put in the menu even if it's something we don't usually buy, unless it contains trans fat or HFCS. Our health is worth more than a good sale! Usually I can get yogurt practically free and cereal for .50/box after coupons. I fill in the rest with Aldi. Right now our garden is really helping out with veggies.

 

[scrapquitler]

For my family of 4 (myself, DH, DD13 and DS7) I normally spend about $175 per week.

I work in a group home, and I normally do the grocery shopping there as well. We have 4 adult men in the group home, and we provide 3 meals plus 2 snacks per day for them. Each is on a different diet, Low Cal/Low Cholesterol/High Fiber/Low Salt or some combo of the above. We until a few months ago, we had a budget of $165 per week for them, and were always very low on food by the end of the week. Recently, we received an increased budget and now we have $180 per week. Still, they aren't eating anything fancy, only store brands (Walmart) and its not very easy to buy everything they need on that budget.

 

[southern_redhead]

I guess my actual "budget" is $140 for four of us during the school year. I do breakfast at home (cereal and milk or pancakes usually - my kids are barely at themselves enough to eat in the a.m.) Last year I packed three lunches but this year will do only two, my 11 year old says he won't walk into school with a lunchbox I really hate paying for school food, it isn't cooked very well, the meals are poorly planned, and there is usually only one or two things the kids will eat but I have to pay for the whole shebang (plus whenever one of them eats school food they are sick with the crud within days.......not sure how that works?) Okay that was off topic, I'll end the rant LOL We do supper at home. I tend to do crockpot meats so it cooks while I'm at work then I can run home and flesh it out with pasta or rice and a veggie or two. My youngest two have to take snack and drink each day too. That adds up because we don't snack at home so to me that is an unneccessary expense. I buy WalMart brand home and beauty products unless I have a good coupon, my only splurge is name brand laundry detergent

Anyway, my biggest money saver is shop sans kids but with a list. This year extra money goes in the vacation fund for Disney so that is extra incentive to be frugal I will be interested to read everyone's responses to this. Sometimes I see something and think "Why didn't I think of that?!"

 

[gatormom2tots]

Family of 4- with a 4 and 5 yo. We spend about $115 a week on groceries.

 

[momoflizandains]

We are a family of four which includes two kids (DD12 and DD9). I have been trying to spend around $125 per week during the summer, but they are eating me out of house and home. When school starts, the budget should go to $100 per week.

 

[gillenkl]

Family of 4 - around $120 a week including meats and cleaning/paper products. We pack all lunches during the school year and eat out 2x a month.

 

[libraryfreak]

I made a little Word table document with 16 columns, each corresponding to the aisle at my local Wal Mart, then I filled in the most common items I buy in the order the appear in the aisle. I print once a week, circle what I need, then mark off as I move along.

Thanks OP, this is such an awesome idea!!! I am definitely going to take notes next time I shop so I can do the same. We must have the same personality type.

Oh, to answer your question, I average $125/week for 4 of us, 2 adults and 2 teenagers.

 

[ancestry]

There are six of us (DH and myself, DD 19, DS 15, DS 7, DD 7) plus 3 animals (2 dogs and 1 cat) -- we vary by the week. I'd say by the month I spend about $800-$1000 on food (not including any dining out).

It really depends on what I cook. I love to experiment with cooking and when I play around with gourmet meals in stead of the standard spaghetti or meatloaf, etc. then the cost usually goes up.

I try to balance gourmet meals with traditional cheaper meals throughout the week when possible.

 

[Swimalie]

I don't budget but there are 3 of us (my husband, 5 year old who is eating more and more and myself). I stock up on staples like toilet paper, paper towels at Costco about every 2-3 months and spend less than $100 on those. We make our own cleaner using vinegar and baking soda so that's cheap. For actual food, I don't do coupons unless I happen to think of one and I spend about $100-120 a week. A lot of that is fresh fruits and veggies. We don't eat red meat or pork so that saves a lot, too. I eat 2 bananas a day and go through them a lot. Next year we will have a garden and will be growing our own vegetables which will lower our grocery bill.

I always go in with a list but some how extra things always end up in my cart

 

[DawnM]

I budget $600/month for a family of 5 and two dogs. That is $150/wk.

This is not only groceries though, it includes all cleaning supplies, toiletries, and eating out.

Not sure I know exactly how much only food would be as I don't itemize.

I think about $100 of that is typically eating out and maybe $50 for toiletries? So, if I figure it out that way maybe $110 for groceries per week?

Dawn

 

[wendydarling826]

3 adults and one dog: average $120./week. I shop sales, use coupons for things I buy anyway and pack lunches. I thought that was a big grocery bill, but maybe not!

 

[DawnM]

I will post again a fantastic resource. I wish I implemented more of this in my living!

http://www.budget101.com/ebooklet/ebooklet_fam4.pdf